Kassaundra

My sister in law's mother in law died a couple of years ago. No one in their family sews, so they offered me her "old sewing machines" she had 2, and they were just going to toss them if I didn't want them, so sight unseen I said sure I'll take them. Here are some pics, I think the one is from around the 1950's and called a "slant"? It was working when Ms Lay died so will likely just need a good cleaning and servicing. The other is a treadle and looks like it will need more work to make it run.

Both are in cabinets.

Does anyone have any information on what model they might be, or any information that might help me that I don't know to ask? lol

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This is the newer one, the one I think is a "slant" model.

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BonnieJP

The black machine is a model 15. The serial number dates it to August 1938.

tranum

Is the bisque one a “rockateer” ? I had slant needle 503 almost identical but had no dial. Just sold it in fact.

OurWorkbench

Yes. the first one is a 500 and is a slant shank. While it can be used for FMQ, as per one of the links below, many find the thread path from the bobbin to the needle isn't the best for FMQ. There are several threads here on QB about the 500A and other slant shank machines that have lots of similarities to one another. There is a link in one of the links below about a 401 and using 30W motor oil in the bearing to the motor, which would apply to this machine as well.

The other is, indeed, a 15 whose serial number was allotted in 1938. This is the machine which is frequently suggested to be a better machine for FMQ, as the the feed dogs can be dropped and the bobbin thread doesn't have to make a 90º turn to meet up with the needle thread. It takes regular low shank attachments.

Manuals for both machines can be found at https://www.singer.com/support (Not affiliated with link).

As for cleaning the 15, especially, can be found at How to Clean Up and use a vintage sewing machine - videos by Muv and Fav as well as other posts here in the vintage section.

Both are considered very good machines which can go to serve their original purpose for many years to come.

Should you do a search here on QB, the search function will not show the posts when you click on the links from the search result - until you refresh the page. The page can be refreshed by clicking on the circle arrow next to the address bar or by clicking on the blue title of the thread above the first post of the thread.

Here are some of the links regarding the slant shank machines:
What Do I Need To Know About Singer 500A?
Free Motion Quilting on a Singer 500
Rocketeer needle and pattern selector problems
Differences between the Singer 500 and the Singer 503 machines

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

SusieQOH

My Mom had a machine just like the first one and she bought it in 1964. It was in a maple cabinet.

sewbizgirl

Ooooh, lucky you, Kass! The tan 500 is referred to as The Rocketeer, because of it's mid-century space age look. The slant shank machines have their own kind of feet, so I hope you got the accessories with the machine. They are fun to sew on because there's so much visibility! That slanted shank does make that difference.

And the 15 should run well too, once you clean and oil it. It will be great to have a treadle to sew on during prolonged power outages, should that happen. Or you could set it up out on your porch in nice weather and sew outside, like Bonnie Hunter does!

Have fun with your new toys!

Kassaundra

Thanks for all the info, it will give me starting points for figuring out what I need to do.